On Tuesday July 3rd, the Treasury Department announced that Obama administration is delaying until 2015 a requirement that many employers offer health insurance which is a major provision in the health care overhaul.
The change in the employer mandate is arguably the most significant adjustment the administration has made to date. Employers welcome this delay.
The delay until 2015 means that employers no longer need to provide an affordable health care policy to their employees that has a minimum value and includes specific benefits during 2014. Prior to this change, employers would have faced a penalty of either $3,000 or $2,000 per employee depending on specific circumstances.
The law requires companies that employ 50 or more workers to offer coverage or face fines. The Treasury Department and the White House said that, based on complaints by employers that the system for reporting the coverage was too onerous, they would simplify that system and give employers an additional year to comply.
Within the next week the Treasury department will issue official guidance to insurers, self-insuring employers and other parties that provide health coverage. Formal rules will be proposed later this summer.
The administration states that all other major aspects of the legislation will remain on schedule, including the individual mandate, state and federal health insurance marketplaces, and subsidy eligibility.
